Treatment of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma remains a major challenge. For an unresectable lesion without extrahepatic spread, liver transplantation could be a potential solution but it is still associated with poor oncologic results owing to the absence of effective neoadjuvant treatment. We report the case of a young man with locally advanced intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma presenting with multiple intrahepatic metastases and vascular structure involvement. The lesion was significantly downstaged by a multimodal therapy including intra-arterial Yttrium-90 radioembolization, systemic chemotherapy and external radiotherapy, allowing liver transplantation...

Although transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts are most frequently used for the management of portal hypertension, the surgical approach is preferred for symptomatic portal cavernoma cholangiopathy. We present the case of a 25-year old female patient with a portal cavernoma secondary to catheterization of the umbilical vein at birth. She had had two episodes of esophageal variceal bleeding, successfully treated by endoscopic banding. and an episode of acute cholangitis secondary to portal cavernoma cholangiopathy...

Gastrointestinal xanthomas are infrequent non-neoplastic lesions characterized by the accumulation of foam cells in the lamina propria. They are commonly seen in association with dyslipidemia, chemotherapy or radiotherapy, and infections in immunosuppressed patients. However, no clear connection to hyperlipidemia has been found. They occur more frequently in the stomach, and are very rare in the small bowel and esophagus. We identified all cases of non-gastric xanthoma or xanthomatosis reported in the English literature by searching the PubMed database and retrospectively reviewed the clinical, endoscopic, and histopathologic features of the 11 cases of non-gastric gastrointestinal xanthomas diagnosed in our hospital...

Treatment of refractory celiac disease type II (RCD II) and preventing the development of an enteropathy associated T-cell lymphoma in these patients is still difficult. In this case report, we describe a patient with RCD II who received fecal microbiota transfer as treatment for a recurrent Clostridium difficile infection, and remarkably showed a full recovery of duodenal villi and disappearance of celiac symptoms. This case suggests that altering the gut microbiota may hold promise in improving the clinical and histological consequences of celiac disease and/or RCD II...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary tumor of the liver, ranking as the second most common cause of death from cancer worldwide. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been used so far in tumor diagnosis and treatment, demonstrating great potential and promising results. In principle, three different approaches can be used in the treatment of tumors with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles: magnetically induced hyperthermia, drug targeting and selective suppression of tumor growth. This review focuses on the use of iron oxide nanoparticles for the diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer and offers a walkthrough from the MNPs imaging applicability to further therapeutic options, including their potential flaws...

Modern immunosuppressive therapy has produced a real revolution in renal and organ transplantation but it comes with the price of multiple side effects. There are many gastrointestinal (GI) complications that are the consequence of transplant immunosuppressant medication. In fact, for any immunosuppressant therapy, certain standardized precepts and attitudes that aim to reduce the incidence and the impact of the medication side effects must be applied. Many patients undergo renal transplantation and the physicians have to be aware of the advantages and the risks associated...

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients often present psychoform symptoms or psychiatric disorders. Among the psychological factors studied in IBS patients, two seem to influence mostly its severity: catastrophizing and somatization. Somatization is an independent risk factor for IBS. In addition, somatization more than the severity of IBS influences the way the patients perceive their illness, the outcome and the efficacy of treatment. Irritable bowel syndrome patients demonstrate greater catastrophizing scores than controls, and pain catastrophizing is a significant predictor of gastrointestinal symptoms related to pain...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The mucus layer of the intestinal tract is the main barrier between luminal microbes and the mucosa, and has an essential role in the body defense mechanisms. Previous research could not establish consistent results for mucin genes expression in Crohn's disease (CD) patients. In this meta-analysis we looked at the mucin expression in CD patients and compared it with healthy controls. METHOD: English medical literature searches were conducted for mucin expression in the mucosa of the ileum and colon of CD patients and compared it with normal mucosa...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a growing incidence and studies regarding the risk factors or pathogenesis for this type of carcinoma benefit special interest. This study evaluates the correlations between p53 protein expression and clinical and laboratory factors in patients with HCC. METHODS: The study group included 76 patients diagnosed with HCC, either by biopsy or after surgical resection (with curative intent). Immunohistochemistry for p53 protein assessment was performed in all patients...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The prognosis of cirrhotic patients is usually assessed by Child-Pugh and MELD scores. Metabolic liver function tests such as aminopyrine breath test (ABT) and indocyanine green clearance (IGC) have been shown to reveal hepatocellular dysfunction. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the prognostic value of the MELD score, Child-Pugh score, ABT and IGC in a large cohort of cirrhotic patients. METHODS: Between January 1996 and June 2008, 711 cirrhotic patients were included and the primary endpoint was survival without LT...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Noninvasive assessment of liver stiffness has been increasingly used to evaluate fibrosis instead of liver biopsy, especially in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. The aim of this study was to assess the performance in staging liver fibrosis of the updated ElastPQ® technique (EPIQ7 ultrasound system, Philips Healthcare, Bothell, WA, USA) in the "real life" setting by using the FibroScan as the reference standard and to understand whether the use of the quality criteria improves the performance of the technique...